[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 14 (Thursday, February 14, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E146]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     PAYING TRIBUTE TO MEL COLEMAN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. SCOTT McINNIS

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 13, 2002

  Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, it is with profound sadness that I pay 
tribute today to Mr. Mel Coleman, a man whose dedication to his 
profession, his customers, and his loved ones, is both extraordinary 
and inspirational. Mel was not only an incredible rancher and 
businessman, but, more importantly, a man of unquestioned integrity and 
of unparalleled morality. He will be sorely missed by each and every 
person whose life he touched. As his family mourns his loss, I believe 
it is appropriate to remember Mel and pay tribute to him for his 
contributions to his city, his state and his country.
  Mel Coleman, the great-grandson of pioneers who settled in the San 
Luis Valley of Colorado in 1870, created a cattle ranching empire by 
employing a novel and often overlooked practice--listening to his 
customers. By responding to complaints that there was no good source 
for hormone-and-stimulant-free beef in the marketplace, Mel turned an 
unprofitable ranching business into Coleman Natural Products, a $70 
million-per-year empire, which controls 50 percent of the natural beef 
market and sells to 2,500 retail outlets throughout the United States 
and Japan. His beef is now preferred by an ever-growing population of 
people who prefer its taste, which results from the cattle never being 
given any hormones, antibiotics or growth promotants, and which graze 
on ground that is never fertilized.
  Mel's vision and dedication to his cause is truly remarkable. He was 
bold enough to venture into an untested market and talented enough to 
become extraordinarily successful in this endeavor. In 1981, he was the 
first to receive permission from the United States Department of 
Agriculture to label his beef ``hormone and stimulant free,'' which 
subsequently led to an influx of competition into the marketplace that 
continues to be dominated by Coleman Natural Products. Mel is survived 
by his wife, Polly, who was always at her husband's side in both 
business and in life, his two sons, Mel Jr. and Greg, and his daughter 
Dianne.
  Mr. Speaker, we are all terribly saddened by the loss of Mel Coleman, 
but take comfort in the knowledge that our grief is overshadowed only 
by the legacy of courage, success and love that Mel left with all of 
us. Mel Coleman's life is the very embodiment of all that makes this 
country great, and I am deeply honored to be able to bring his life to 
the attention of this body of Congress.

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